Touched by an Alien
by Tuzilla
Summary: What are the origins of the magical world on Earth?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

 **Knock, Knock.**

 **Who's There on this Starry Night?**

"Most people don't realize or appreciate how dark it is up here at night," said Hermione, lying on her back with the others as she gazed upwards into the heavens. "You can barely see any stars at night in London or other cities. Up here, there are so many. Especially on a moonless night like this. It is astounding."

"I suppose so," replied Ron, who was used to pretty decent night skies out at The Burrows."I always used to look at them at night back home."

"It is very peaceful and relaxing," noted Parvati. "It is like being one with the universe."

"Yes, but when you consider the size of it, it is a bit overwhelming, too," said Cho.

They were part of a group of Gryffindors and Ravenclaws that included Harry, Dean, Katie, Lavender, Seamus, Neville, Luna, Michael, Mandy, Anthony, Terry, Padma, and them. They were stargazing while listening to the waves gently lapping at the shore in tune with the frogs, crickets and other insects.

The group was being rewarded for their doing so well on their recent tests. As part of it, they were enjoying a rare Friday night treat of be allowed to hang out on the lakeshore long after normal curfew.

"What do you see when you look up?" queried Hermione.

"Stars," quipped Ron without thinking, thereby displaying what was interpreted as a lack of rightful consideration for Hermione's question.

"You're a complete ass, Ron," snapped Hermione, taking offense to his glib reply to her serious question.

"Yeah, Ron," echoed Harry, trying not to laugh as he hit him on the shoulder. "A 'complete' ass."

"Good answer, Ron," added Seamus as the rest of the group laughed.

"You're all a bunch of gits," grumbled Ron, starting to get angry.

"They're really quite beautiful," said Luna, defusing the situation with her dreamy, lilting voice. "Some people believe we originate from aliens who visited here from the stars long ago."

"I read that many people think that things like the pyramids in Egypt, stone circles here in the UK and a lot of other ancient things around the world were either built by aliens or built with their help," said Dean.

"I have read about those things, too," said Hermione. "Lots of people try to link the pyramids in Egypt with the ones in Mexico and Central America as evidence of aliens have visited here."

"I was reading about pyramids in Muggle Studies. They say the three big pyramids in Egypt line up with the three stars in Orion's belt. That's Orion, right up there," said Michael, pointing up at the sky. "Do you see those three stars? They make up his belt?"

"Yeah," replied Terry. "I remember him from the book. He was a great hunter in Greek Mythology."

"I remember reading about him, too," concurred Lavender. "He got into trouble with Gaia, the Mother Earth goddess. She sent a giant scorpion to kill him."

"Yeah," agreed Terry. "Scorpio stung him and he was going to die. But he was revived by Ophiuchus, the serpent bearer."

"Yes," said Lavender. "They say that is why the constellations Orion and Scorpio never appear in the sky at the same time, and why Ophiuchus is found halfway in between them."

"That's fascinating, but the people of India don't see Orion when they look up," injected Padma. "They see the constellation as a giant deer."

"Yes," said Cho, who was born and raised in the UK, but spent considerable time investigating her deeper Chinese heritage. "I have read about Orion, but the Chinese see it differently, too. They call it 'shen' or 'three'. It is an autumn constellation and part of the White Tiger of the West.

"That's interesting," said Hermione. "I read that in the Americas they see Orion as a huge bison. They call it 'The Winter Maker' because winter follows its appearance in the sky."

Ron and several of the others were quickly losing interest in the conversation. They were here to hang out and escape the classroom, not get into an academic discussion. They were getting restless and talking to the distraction of some of the others.

"The thing I find most fascinating," waxed Hermione, lost in the joy of intellectual discussion, "is how many cultures all believe aliens from Orion's belt—well—uh—the three stars came here and sparked their civilizations. They believe the things they built, like their pyramids, rings and sky drawings were created to talk to the aliens and to help the aliens find them and to stay in contact."

"Yeah," sniggered Ron as he waved his wand. "Or we can just go 'Accio Aliens' to call them back.

Several of the group laughed at his quip, but Hermione was less than amused. Her sense of humor was still a project under development with a lot of pending work before it would be completed.

"Did you really just say 'Accio Aliens'?" said Hermione as she waved the wand she had just pulled out of her gown.

Ron looked at her nervously. "Here we go," he thought to himself as he wondered if she was about to curse him. He still could not help grinning as the others calmed down and leaned back.

"I am pretty sure you don't just say something stupid like "Accio Aliens' to summon them," as she repeated the waving of her wand towards the stars. "Maybe I should try 'Accio Brains' to summon some for you."

Ron got up and looked at Harry. "I'm going back up to the castle," he said curtly with an expectant look.

Harry took the hint and got up to leave, as well. All of the other boys used that as an easy out for them, as did Mandy, Katie and Lavender.

This left Hermione with Padma and Parvati, Luna and Cho to contemplate the universe. As the others disappeared up the hill, Luna spoke up as only Luna could.

"I agree with you," she said in a serious voice as she looked at Hermione, who returned her comment with a puzzled look. "You can't just say Accio Aliens."

"What do you suggest, then, Luna?" said Parvati, trying not to laugh. "How do you call them?"

"Well, you can't just call them with something simple like 'Accio Aliens'. How would they know which aliens you are calling? It would have to be something more specific like the name of one of the stars in the belt. It would be something like 'Accio Mintakans," she said with a wave of her wand.

The others all giggled at the way Luna was taking seriously the absurd notion of calling forth the aliens from the distant stars with a wave of a wand and the summoning charm. Suddenly, they fell silent. The star on the right end of Orion's Belt changed colors from white to a bright red for several seconds before returning to white.

The silent disbelief of the group held fast for several moments. Four of them looked at each other, back up at the star, and then back at each other. Luna simply had her head cocked to one side as she continued to look up with a dreamy expression on her face. None of them could find the strength to speak.

Finally, after an extended moment, Padma more or less choked out a weak "Did the rest of you see that?"

"What the heck just happened?" gasped her sister as she rubbed her eyes.

"Maybe it was just a coincidence, a fluke in the atmosphere," said Hermione, trying to rationalize something just a tad bit too weird for her mind to accept.

"Do that, again, Luna," said Cho as she looked at her.

"Do what?" was her response.

"Say what you did to that star," said Cho.

"Oh," replied Luna, like she had done something so trivial that it never really penetrated her sense of proper reality. "Accio Mintakans."

Once again the star lit up a bright red for several seconds.

"That—that—that's—I don't know…" was all Hermione could muster.

"Do you think we—uh well, Luna just spoke to that star?" said Parvati, obviously shaken by what had just happened.

"Something just happened," said Padma.

"Curious," said Luna. "I will have to show that to my father. He will find it fascinating."

"Try saying that to one of the other stars," suggested Hermione as she started to regain her composure.

"I don't think it would work on the others," she said. "They have different names."

"Yes, Luna," said Hermione, slightly amused at the literal interpretation by Luna of her request. "I know they have different names. Use their different names."

"Oh, of course," she replied as she pointed her wand skyward and said "Accio Alnitakans".

A few seconds passed. Then, just like with Mintaka, the star on the left end of the belt lit up for a few seconds. However, Alnitak glowed in a bright blue.

"Oh my," gasped Cho. "What is happening?

"That's fascinating," observed Luna with total calm in her voice.

The others looked at each other with a collective "YUH THINK!" expression.

"Do you want me to try Alnilam?" asked Luna.

"Yes," said Padma and Parvati in twin unison. "Yes."

Luna raised her wand and said, "Accio Alnilamans". It quickly lit up in a bright yellow before returning to white.

"What does all of this mean?" asked Cho in a tentative voice. "Do you think we made contact with aliens?

"I don't know," replied Hermione. "It is kind of scary."

"Should we ask a professor about it?" asked Padma.

"Which one?" added Parvati.

"I suppose we should talk to Professor Sinistra. Maybe we can catch her in the morning after breakfast."

The others agreed with that idea. For now, it was getting late. They did not want to abuse the privilege they had been given. After a quick moment of looking back up at Orion's Belt, they got up and headed back to the castle and bed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

 **Can You Do That Again?**

Hermione dragged herself down to breakfast, her eyes half-opened, the following morning. The events of last night were clearly still occupying her mind. Cho was seated near the end of the Ravenclaw table. She was nibbling at some fruit and sipping a drink. Hermione walked over and sat down with her.

"I couldn't sleep at all last night," said Hermione with a yawn. Her face, even under the uncharacteristic addition of some borrowed makeup and a framing of combed hair, looked stretched and tired.

Cho looked at her. Her eyes were red and damp. "Me, neither," she said. "I was tossing and turning all night. I couldn't turn off my brain."

"Every time I almost went to sleep I would see stars flashing red, yellow and blue. Then I would be wide awake," said Hermione as she put some toast on her plate and half-heartedly dabbed at it with some butter and marmalade.

"I kept seeing those stars, too. It was like they were trying to talk to me. Do you think that is even possible?" asked Cho as Padma and Parvati walked over to join them at the table.

Both of them were considered two of the more fastidious, particular dressers at Hogwarts. However, both of them looked like they had just jumped up, threw on what was available and called it good enough. The parts in their normally perfect hair were wobbly. Instead of matching earrings, they were earringless. The knot in Padma's tie, which usually looked like she had tied and retied it several times until it was perfect, was lopsided and off center. Parvati's tie was loose and crooked.

"Are you girls okay?" inquired Hermione. "Did you get any sleep last night?"

"About as much as the two of you from the looks," said Parvati, trying to grin at the condition of their foursome.

Just then, Luna came skipping up to the table. She looked chipper and well-rested. "Good morning, everyone," she chirped. "My, all of you look dreadful. What's the matter?"

"Didn't that bother you last night?" asked Cho as Padma put her head down on the table. Hermione and Pavarti just stared at her.

Luna sat down and filled up her plate with a scoop of scrambled eggs, fried tomatoes, some bacon, a couple of kippers and a slice of toast with marmalade. "Did what bother me?" she asked like she had no idea what they could be talking about.

Hermione's eyes opened all of the way for the first time since she had arrived. "Those stars," she said incredulously. "Those stars responded to you last night. That doesn't bother you?"

"Of course not. I think it is exciting. Why would that bother me?"

In the meantime, Harry and Ron had made it down to breakfast and were sitting in the normal spots with a group of fellow Gryffindors. "Where's Hermione?" Harry asked Ginny. "She always beats us down to breakfast?"

"Don't know. Haven't seen her this morning," came her reply as she edged away from them. She was still shy around Harry. "She was gone before I got to the common room."

"You don't suppose she is still mad at me about last night?" Ron said, looking at Harry.

"Why would she be mad at you? What did you do now?" asked Ginny, not shy about quizzing her brother.

"Nothing," said Harry, looking at Ginny. "You know your brother and his smart remarks. Always two steps ahead of his brain."

Ginny laughed and looked over at Ron who was frowning.

"No," said Harry. "I don't think she is still mad at you. She was really not that mad last night. I think you were the mad one because she got one on you."

"Yeah, right," said Ron.

"Look over there," said Neville, pointing across the dining hall. "Hermione is over there."

Ron and Harry saw her sitting with the other girls. "I wonder what they are up to, now?" said Ron.

"Probably planning her revenge on you," quipped Ginny.

Harry choked on his pumpkin juice. Fred and George cracked up while slapping Ginny, who was now beaming with pride at her successful shot, on the shoulders in a congratulatory manner. Ron just scowled at her. This was all he needed, another comedian in the family, a Fred and George backup player ready to jibe him on a second's notice.

Over at the other table, the girls were still chatting. "Are we still going to talk to Professor Sinistra about last night?" asked Cho.

They all looked at each other, trying to gauge the feelings of the group. It was going to be a weird conversation. They wanted to be certain of themselves.

"I say we should go talk to her," said Hermione, looking at the rest of the group.

"I'm good with it," agreed Padma.

"Me, too," said Parvati.

"Sure," said Cho. "I think we'll all feel better if we get some answers."

Everyone looked to Luna. She was kind of a key player in this whole situation. She is the one who made the contact, if that is what actually happened.

"Well, Luna," said Hermione after an extended pause.

"Oh," she said. "Of course. Let's talk to her."

Professor Sinistra was just getting up from her breakfast as they looked her way. She headed down from the head table and towards the main doors along with professors Trelawney and Flitwick, as well as Madam Pince. They all got up and walked towards the doors with the intention of catching up with her there.

"Excuse me, Professor Sinistra," said Hermione, taking the lead as the two groups both met near the door. "Could we ask you some questions?"

"Why of course, girls," came her reply as she excused herself from the others with a smile. "How may I help you?"

"Maybe we could we sit down for a moment," suggested Hermione, both because their discussion could take a while, and because she was feeling too tired to stand around talking.

"Certainly," replied the professor, all too happy to see a group of students curious about something with which they thought she could help them.

They walked to an empty spot near the end of the Ravenclaw tables. "Now, what is it you need help with, girls?" inquired the professor as the got themselves comfortably seated.

"Have you ever heard of anyone actually making contact with the stars, like talking to them?" asked Hermione.

"No, I cannot say I have," replied the professor, looking a bit confused by the question. "Actual contact with the stars, or aliens for that matter, is not something we learn about or teach in Astronomy. Why would you ask a question like that?

"Do you believe in aliens from other planets or stars?" asked Cho.

"Well, the universe is very big," said the professor. "I see no reason why there could not be other civilizations out there on different planets. But that is a subject more suited to an Astrobiology class, not Astronomy. I took a class in that at a muggle school called Imperial College in London before becoming a professor."

"What did it say about life in outer space?" ask Pavarti.

"It said a lot, mostly theories. There are a lot of people, especially muggles, who believe there are other civilizations out there. They think some of them are very advanced beyond ours. They think some of them may have visited us in the past?"

"Do you think that aliens have visited here?" continued Pavarti as the other listened as well as their tired minds could listen.

"I'm not sure," came the response from the professor. "I suppose it is possible. There are many unexplained things in this world. A lot of people claim aliens had something to do with them."

"Yes," said Hermione. "Like the pyramids, crop circles, Stonehenge, places like that."

"Yes, those, and many other things, such as the gods and goddesses of ancient religions, the Mayan calendar, Ezekiel's Wheel in the Christian Bible, the math skills of several ancient civilizations. And then there are lost places like Atlantis, Mu or Shangri La. Almost all of the large religions on Earth believe aliens are possible or at least have room to believe in them."

"So you do believe it is possible that aliens have been here?" asked Parvati, restating her previous question.

"Like I said, I do not know if they have been here, but I see no reason why they could not have been here. But why all these questions about aliens, girls? " asked the professor, getting very curious about their conversation. "We haven't been studying them in any of your classes. Did something happen we should talk about?"

The girls all looked at each other, then back at the professor. They all hesitated, waiting for one of the others to speak up.

"Maybe," said Hermione, finally speaking up. "Something may have happened last night."

"Please, please tell me about it. Don't be nervous. I want to help."

"Okay," said Hermione, clearing her throat. "Well, we were all down on the lakeshore enjoying our reward for doing so well in our classes. We were mostly talking, looking at the stars and the way they lit up the lake and surrounding hill. It was really quite peaceful and enjoyable."

Hermione paused and looked at the others. They seemed more than pleased to have her doing the talking.

"Yes, please go on, Hermione."

"We were talking about the stars and how a lot of people believe there might be aliens out there among the stars. We talked about whether or not we thought they had been here and whether or not they might return."

The professor was sitting, listening intently, wondering where this all of this was leading.

"Ron had made a joke. He pointed his wand at Orion's Belt and said if we want them we just say 'Accio Aliens'. I got mad at him. He got mad at me and got up to leave. A bunch of the others used that as an excuse to also leave. That's how it ended up with just the five of us on the lakeshore."

"Please continue," urged the professor as Hermione paused to gather the rest of her thoughts.

"Luna looked at the professor and said, "I told Hermione I agreed with what she told Ron. I told her the charm would have to be more specific."

"Okay," said the professor as Luna stopped. "Is that it? Is that the question? Are you looking for a more specific charm to use for contacting aliens?"

"No, professor," said Luna. "I think we found it."

Found what? Are you saying you found a charm to contact aliens?" said the professor, not believing what she was saying?

"Yes, professor. I pointed my wand at Orion's Belt and said 'Accio Mintakans'. That's the star on the right end of the belt."

"Yes, I know, I am the one who taught you that."

"Yes, that's right, you did," replied Luna. "Anyway, Mintaka changed colors and glowed bright red for a few seconds."

"Are you certain? Did you all see that happen?" asked the professor, looking around and seeing quiet agreement from all of the others.

The professor looked at all of them and said, "Maybe it was a coincidence. It could have been something in the atmosphere. Or maybe you all just thought you saw it turn red."

"That's what we thought, too," interjected Hermione. 'Keep telling her what happened next, Luna."

"Well, I pointed my wand back up and said it again. Mintaka did it again. It glowed bright red."

"That's very odd, said the professor in a befuddled voice. "I don't know what to say. I have never heard of such a thing."

"That's not all of it," said Hermione. "Tell her the rest, Luna."

"The rest—uh—I pointed my wand up again and said 'Accio Alnitakans'. It lit up bright blue. Then I tried 'Accio Alnilamans'. It glowed bright yellow for a moment."

That's—well—if it is all true, it's—uh—incredible," stammered the professor. "If you have made contact with aliens, then it will be—well, it cannot be underestimated the impact it could have on our world."

"It's true, professor. All of it," said Padma, making her first contribution to the conversation."

"I would really like to believe this," said the professor. "Would you be willing to try to make contact again? We can do it up in the Astronomy Tower tonight."

The girls look at each other. Last night had pretty well freaked them all out, that is with the exception of Luna. They had no idea what they had really done. They had no idea what kind of things they might be tinkering with. The very idea of voluntarily doing it again was really frightening.

"I think that is a good idea," said Luna in an abrupt, but calm manner. "We should check to see if what happened last night really happened."

The others looked at her like she had exceeded her normal reputation for loony. However, after a moment of consideration, it was agreed to meet after dinner and to go up to the Astronomy Tower for an attempt at recreating the events of the previous evening.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

 **Hello, Goodbye**

The girls split up in hopes of finding someplace to relax. If anything, the meeting with Professor Sinistra had increased, not eased their anxiety. They were ensnared in a cruel conundrum. On the one hand, they wanted an answer to ease their troubled minds. On the other hand, they were scared of what they might find if they kept on seeking that answer…all of them, except for Luna, who was actually excited by the whole thing.

Hermione sat in a common room chair trying to divert her mind with a book. Fortunately for her, it was sufficiently boring enough that she nodded off and got some needed sleep.

Cho had returned to the Ravenclaw common room and managed a short nap in her bed. Padma and Pavarti eventually found a couch in the library where they could lean back. Being Saturday, it was exceptionally quiet in there.

Luna, on the other hand, was out by the greenhouses looking for gnomes and blibbering humdingers. Suddenly, a group of three men in long robes, one in red, another in blue and the third in yellow, approached her. All three of them were about six-foot tall and slender. They had straight, blond hair, soft, blue eyes and the pale skin of a person who did not spend much time in the sun. Her first thoughts were they might be Swedish. They might be brothers, even triplets.

She stepped back apprehensively as they walked up and stopped in front of her.

"Can I help you, sirs," she said, a bit of fear marking her voice, instead of her usual calm demeanor. She was alone and they obviously did not belong here at Hogwarts. Who were they?

"I don't know," said the stranger in the blue robe. "You called to us last night. I am Bimeer from the Alnitak Homelands. In the red is Arger. He is from the Mintakan Worlds. And this is Multhon in the yellow. He is from the Alnilam realm. Together, we represent a confederation of peoples who all originate from one of the Mintakan worlds. We are here to answer your call."

Luna was speechless for a moment, and then she said, "I—I am Luna. Luna Lovegood from here on Earth."

"We are pleased to make your acquaintance Luna Lovegood from Earth.

"Please call me Luna."

"Now, how may we be of service to you, Luna?"

"Ohhhhh my," gasped Luna, still finding this all outside of the boundaries of her admittedly eccentric sense of reality. "I don't know. I believe we owe all you an apology. I think we called you by accident."

"How so?" asked Bimeer.

"A group of my friends and I were talking about aliens and the stars last evening. We talked about how ancient Earth civilizations may have been visited by aliens. Some people believe that many ancient structures were built to communicate with aliens. We talked about the idea of how we could communicate with the stars. One boy made a kind of a joke about it, but it gave me an idea. I pointed my wand at the stars in Orion's Belt and said 'Accio Mintakans'. The star Mintaka lit up bright red."

"Yes, Luna. That was us signaling back that we heard your call. Then you called Alnitak and Alnilam. We all heard your calls. Our council sent the three of us to meet with you."

"You are not mad we called you here by mistake, sirs?"

"No, of course not. We are excited to speak with you," replied Bimeer.

"Should I gather the others?"

"Do you mean the others who know about your call to us?"

Yes, Mister Bimeer, sir."

"Yes. Please gather all of the people who know about this. We would like to talk to all of you."

"Okay," said Luna, uncharacteristically a bundle of excited, confused, concerned all rolled into one. "I will find them, right away. But we must find a place for you to rest and wait."

"We can wait here in your gardens. They are very beautiful."

"Okay, sirs. I will gather the others as quickly as possible."

Luna raced off, her long blond hair flapping behind her. She did not know what she was going to say to the others, but she needed to find them and bring them back to the garden. It was all very exciting.

The first place she went was the Ravenclaw dormitories. Cho had just gotten up from her nap. She ran to her, nearly out of breath.

"Cho," panted Luna. "Cho, we need to find Padma…and Hermione and Parvati. We need to go to the greenhouses right away."

"Calm down, Luna," said Cho. "What is the problem, Luna?"

"It's about last night and aliens," she said, starting to catch her breath. "We all have to go down to the greenhouses. I have to show you something."

"Okay," said Cho, still not getting the same sense of urgency. "Padma and Parvati like to hang out in the library. It is sort of their family common room. Let's go look there."

On the way, Cho tried to get more information about this urgent matter out of Luna. Luna said little more than, "I think this is more of a matter for you to see than talk about. We should wait until we get there."

They made their way to the library and started searching. They found the girls napping on the couch where they had sat down a while ago.

Padma! Parvati! Please get up. We have to go to the greenhouses. I have something to show you."

The girls slowly stirred. Luna kept urging them to move faster. They looked at her like she was more loony than usual.

Luna eventually made enough of a commotion trying to get them up so they could find Hermione that Madam Pince shooed them out of the library, inadvertently helping Luna's cause.

Fortune smiled on them as they started up toward the Gryffindor dormitories in hopes of finding Hermione. It was close to lunch time. Hermione was on her way down to get some lunch to fill in after her almost non-existent breakfast.

A moment later the five of them were headed out to the greenhouses. Hermione looked puzzled at the situation, having been more or less shanghaied with little explanation.

"Where are we going? What's going on?" asked Hermione.

"Just follow me," said Luna. "You will see in a minute."

As they made their way outside and into the direction of the greenhouses, the four girls following Luna had a collective look of this had better not be a wild unicorn chase. None of the felt top-notch after last night. They did not need to be dragged out there to see crumple-horned snorkack tracks or a nest made by a family of weetimorousbeastie.

They made their way past the first couple greenhouses to the open garden area. Bimeer, Arger and Multhon were looking at a hybrid of a rose bush and a tentacula plant as the brilliant red flowers on the end of each vine danced and waved. Other than their brightly colored robes, they did not arouse the immediate concerns of any of the girls.

Luna walked right up to them and said, "Excuse me, sirs. I am back with the others."

"Thank you, Luna," replied Bimeer. "Could you please introduce them to us?"

"Of course, sirs," she said as she turned to the girls. "This is Cho Chang.

Cho smiled and gave a slight nod, not knowing what she should say.

"A pleasure Cho Chang," said Bimeer.

"This is Hermione Granger," she continued as she held out her arm in the direction of Hermione.

"Pleased to meet you," responded Hermione with a cautious smile.

"And we are pleased to meet you, Hermione Granger."

"This is Padma Patil…and her sister Parvati Patil," concluded Luna.

"Pleasure," responded the girls in unison.

"A pleasure as well Padma Patil and Parvati Patil."

The girls waited for the introductions of the men as the three of them stood quietly for a moment. They all thought it was kind of weird the way Bimeer said their full names in greeting them. Who are these men?

The features on the faces of the men were smoothed down, not pronounced. They did not seem very expressive, but they did give off a calm, almost serene vibe that seemed soothing to the mood of the situation.

Finally, Bimeer, the apparent, by now, spokesman for the group said. "It is a true pleasure to meet all of you. I am Bimeer. I came here in response to your call from the Alnitak Homelands.

A stunned silence fell over the four girls. No one was saying it, but they were all thinking the same thing. "Did he just say what I think he said? Is he an alien who came here because of what happened last night?" They stood, frozen.

"I am Arger. I am also here in response to your call. I come from the Mintakan Worlds. It is an honor to meet all of you."

The girls were still mostly paralyzed. The best they could manage was some small nods and weak smiles.

Multhon was the last to speak. "I am Multhon," he said. "I am here from the Alnilam Realm. I am also honored to make your acquaintances."

An awkward silence followed. Luna finally broke it by saying, "We are all excited that you have come here to meet us. What would you like to talk about?"

There was some uncomfortable shuffling among the girls as they waited for the response to Luna's question. They were really meeting aliens. They were about to have a conversation with them. The crazy situation started by Ron had opened a door between our world and another group of world hundreds of light years away.

"Luna told us about last night and that she thinks you called us by accident. If it was an accident, then it is a happy one," said Bimeer. "You may not know it, but our culture has been aware of you for many thousands of your years. We have observed you. We even visited here on occasion, but the last visit was very long ago.

The girls were all listening intently, even more intently that when Dumbledore would speak to them from the lectern in the Great Hall. If these men were truly aliens, this could be a monumental moment for the worlds, both wizarding and muggle.

"In the early visits by our culture," said Arger, taking over the conversation, "we saw great promise in you. We carefully shared little bits of knowledge and technology meant to help urge along your development without altering or damaging it. Think about early calendars, writing, and the unusual math skills of some cultures. We only seeded these things. But they took them forward, often in grand manners."

"So you helped develop our current culture," said Hermione, finally finding her voice.

"Not quite so much, Hermione Granger," said Multhon, taking a turn at talking. We planted a seed like math and writing. It grew on its own and became what it is, today."

"But you did know the type of seed you planted," replied Hermione.

"Yes, yes we knew that," said Bimeer, stepping back up. "We planted things like a math seed, much like planting an apple seed. But how it grew and the type of apple it would produce was your work, your creation. A farmer can take only so much credit for the outcome of what he plants."

"But a farmer can control some things by fertilizing and watering," noted Pavarti.

"That is very true, Pavarti Patil," replied Arger. "However, in our case, once the seeds are planted, we let nature take its own course."

"This is fascinating, sirs," said Luna, starting to find the real Luna that had been hiding inside of the excitement and wonder of their meeting. "Will you be planting any new seeds during your visit?"

The other girls looked at Luna with a mix of expressions from 'Do you know what you are asking?' to 'Are you completely mental?' Luna stood quietly, awaiting an answer.

"No, Luna," said Bimeer. "We will not be planting any seeds this day. The Council ceased the practice of seed planting after what we call the Core Seeding. It was decided that the Great Engineer, as we call the Supreme Being, would not be pleased with that level of manipulation."

"The Great Engineer?" asked Cho.

"Yes, you use many names here," said Multhon. "You say God, Allah, יהוה, Yahweh, Jehovah, Tianzhu, Elohim, Lord and many more. Those names all refer to him, the master of all engineers who sparked the creation of the whole of the universe, the creator of the elements, the creator of the rules governing all that happens and how it happens. The builder of your Earth and its environment. The designer and overseer of the maintenance plan you call Evolution. The ultimate ruler of all races on all planets around all of the stars in the entire universe."

This left the girls aghast. The can of worms that had been opened with what they thought was Luna's eccentricity following Hermione's pique at Ron's humor was far bigger than they imagined. And the worms that were crawling out of it were of epic proportions.

"We want to gage and report back on the progress and changes made since our last visit," said Bimeer. "Our views from our home monitors say you have progressed a lot since our last visit, but are not yet ready for true first contact. No one has visited here since the Core Seeding. A visit is the only way we can garner high-quality data."

"What was this Core Seeding you are referring to?" asked Hermione. "If I may ask that question."

"That is an interesting situation," began Arger. "Do you remember our description of the other events we called seeding?"

"Yes, sir," answered Hermione as she and the others nodded in the affirmative.

"The Core Seeding event occurred several thousand of your years ago," continued Arger. "Our people had gathered representatives of cultures from all over Earth. They felt it was time to prod the evolutionary processes naturally happening inside the people of Earth. Each of these representatives was touched by one of them to implant a Core Seed in them. You refer to the results of this planting as your Magical Core. It is the source of your powers as witches and wizards. It all evolved from this seeding. That is what makes you different from, as you say, Muggles."

"That is fascinating," said Luna as the others once again found themselves standing in stunned silence. "So there were no magical people before this incident."

"They were very rare," said Multhon. "That is why our people chose to do what they did. They felt they were just speeding up a process already in motion."

"How does that affect Hermione, sir," asked Luna. "Neither of her parents are magical people. Where did she get her Magic Core?"

"That is one of the things we will be investigating for our reports," said Arger. "She is certainly an instance of the natural evolutionary process outside of the effects of the Core Seeding. Are there are others like her in the school? We want to gauge how fast the natural generation of Magic Cores by the people of this planet is now occurring verses during the time of our last visit."

"It is now time for us to take our leave of you," said Bimeer. "We very sorry, but we are not going to be able to allow you to keep your knowledge of all that has happened here today. Your planet, as was said before, is not yet ready for a first contact event.

"Think of your planet as this school," began Arger. "Each continent is a house. Each dormitory room is a country. Each person in a room represents some of the people of the country. First, they must learn to get along with each other. Next, they can work and learn to get along with other countries. Eventually, the people of all the continents can unite in a peaceful, productive culture."

"The Great Engineer provided you with a wondrous planet," said Multhon. "It can provide a wonderful life for all of you if you treat it with love and respect."

"Unfortunately," said Bimeer, "you are still a planet fraught with conflicts. You are also abusing your natural resources and the environment. You are not ready. That is why we must leave without making first contact."

"Are you going to erase our memories, sir," asked Luna.

"No," said Multhon. "We will fog your memories. All of the knowledge we have given to you this day will reveal itself back over time when it is appropriate. We will continue watching you. We will return when your planet is ready. Until then, keep looking up to the stars and dreaming."

Bimeer waved his hand as the three of them disappeared along with the conscious memories of the girls.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

 **Detention**

The girls walked back into the school and returned to their dorms. After a nap, which gave them all strange dreams, they all felt the need to go to the dining hall for dinner. They were all famished, having all missed lunch.

Padma and Parvati were seated at the Ravenclaw table across from Cho. They were too busy eating to carry on much of a conversation. Luna was sitting a little ways away. She was also busy consuming some Yorkshire pudding before starting into a plate of roast beef and fresh, garden peas.

As they neared the end of their meals, Professor Sinistra approached them with a very confused-looking Hermione. "Are you girls about ready to go?" said the professor.

"Ready to go where?" asked Cho.

"To the Astronomy Tower," responded the professor, slightly confused by the response. "We are going to see how you talked to the stars last night."

"I'm sorry," said Padma. "I am not certain what you are talking about."

"We sat at this very table and talked for almost an hour about how the group of you used a summoning spell to contact the stars in Orion's Belt."

"Who talked to the stars in Orion's Belt?" asked Luna, who had moved closer to the rest of them.

"You said you did," responded the professor in a voice that was starting to sound angry.

"I did?" she said in a perplexed voice. "Oh, my. I don't recall doing that. I must have forgotten about it."

"You girls sat with me this morning and told me you had contacted the stars in Orion's Belt with a summoning charm. All of you were very serious. We agreed to meet here after dinner to go do it, again, in the Astronomy Tower. Is this some kind of joke?" childish said Sinistra in what was becoming an enraged voice. "I do not appreciate having my valuable time wasted with juvenile jokes."

"We're very sorry, professor," said Hermione. "I really don't recall any of this."

"We'll see about it," fumed the professor as she turned and stomped off in a crisp, furious gait.

"What was that all about?" asked Parvati.

"I have no idea," responded Hermione.

"She seemed very certain of herself," noted Cho. "She was very sure of what she was saying."

"Yes, it was kind of scary," said Padma. "It was like one of us was under a confundus charm."

"Maybe it is wrackspurts," offered Luna. "She might be confused by a bunch of them. I wish I had my Spectrespecs."

"That's it," said Hermione, breaking down and laughing. "It was wrackspurts."

The others all joined in the laughing. Luna smiled, thinking she had solved the situation.

The rest of the day passed without incident, other than a pair of Hufflepuff girls running through the halls squawking like scared chickens as Neville chased them barking like a little dog. Draco was said to have been seen laughing a little too much at the scene.

In the morning, the dining hall was buzzing louder than usual as Harry and Ron arrived for breakfast. Not seeing Hermione, they picked a spot and sat down. Ron immediately started piling his plate with the always sumptuous food. Harry took a more conservative portion while drinking a glass of pumpkin juice.

A moment later, Ginny ran up to the table and sat down beside Ron. She seemed very excited.

"Have you heard the news?" the words exploding out of her mouth. "It's hilarious, or ghastly, or something. I don't know. Wait till you hear it."

"Calm down, Ginny. What is it?" said Ron.

"Hermione, Cho, Luna, Parvati and Padma all got detention. They pulled a prank by telling Professor Sinistra some crazy story about talking to aliens in the stars. It got Professor Sinistra quite excited. They were supposed to show her how they did it last night. Then, when it was time to do it, they all pretended to know nothing about it. Professor Sinistra gave them all a week of detention.

"Brilliant. And she got mad at me for saying 'Accio Aliens'," said Ron to Harry with raised eyebrows and a smirky grin.

Harry laughed as Ginny just looked confused.


End file.
